SonyPixelShift2DNG combines a7R III Pixel Shift shots into DNG files

One of the useful features baked into Sony's latest flagship mirrorless full-frame camera—the Sony a7R III—is the Pixel Shift Multi Shot mode in which the camera captures four consecutive images, shifting the sensor one pixel for each.

This allows the camera to sample each point in the scene with each of its four color filters (R, G, B, G2). Those images are then combined in post to produce files with improved 'crispness', color resolution, noise and dynamic range. It's essentially meant to overcome the limitations of the Bayer color filter array.

The process looks something like this:

We discussed Pixel Shift in detail here, but if you read our full Sony a7R III review then you know that one of our main complaints about this feature is Sony's limited support for Pixel Shift files. Basically, you're stuck using Sony Imaging Edge to process the files—a rather limited (and slow) Raw converter that's probably not on anybody's "favorite photo software" list.

As the name implies, this piece of software combines the four ARW files captured by your Sony a7R III in Pixel Shift mode and spits out a DNG on the other side, allowing you to process the result in the Raw editor of your choice. What's more, it'll automatically detect the 4-image Pixel Shift sets, ignoring any non-Pixel Shift files (as long as you select 'Analyze + Convert All'), generating single DNGs for each set. It'll even name the DNG sensibly, indicating the original ARW files it was generated from.

Finally, Any Pixel Shift 'quartets' (Sony ARQ files) you've already created with Sony Imaging Edge can also be converted to DNG.

The software is still in Beta, but we gave it a test drive and found it fast, easy and nearly effortless. We threw an entire directory of Pixel Shift and non-Pixel Shift files at it and it worked flawlessly. This essentially eliminates any worries we had about compatibility or convenience when it comes to capturing and editing Sony a7R III Pixel Shift files. As far as we're concerned, until and unless Sony releases something similar itself (and we wouldn't hold our breath) this is a must have for Sony a7R III users who use the Pixel Shift function.

To learn more about the software or download it for yourself—there are versions for both Mac or Windows—head over to the FastRawViewer website. Don't wait too long to try it though, the free beta version at that link expires on May 1st, 2018.

And check out LibRaw's other excellent software while you're at it: FastRawViewer allows you to quickly evaluate, sort and do more with your Raw files, and we use the RawDigger app to perform technical analyses of Raw files on a daily basis.

Comments

Will this software......Say I'm shooting super macro and want to use PixelShift with the A7Riii.Say I'll have 40 shots at the end of the run=80 total quartets.Will this software automate the process combining all of the individual quartets and spit out 40 DNGs ?It would be nice if Zerene Stacker could process DNGs too.

If you are focus stacking extreme macro, I think your resolution will probably be more limited by lens sharpness and diffraction than the bayer color filter array of a 42 megapixel sensor. Pixel shift would accomplish nothing but complicate your workflow and average out some of the noise in your photos.

As a Pentax K-1 user I can tell you that pixel shift is just amazing! Given the more potent sensor in the Sony, the results should be even better. Since you get a true color readout and not an interpolated educated guess on which color should be where, this is the ultimate black and white mode allowing for unprecedented tonality and malleability of the files in either color or B/W.

@quintana does the slightest noise in a scene 'render it useless'? Does the presence of the smallest specular highlight in a scene 'render it useless'? Does the slightest motion in a waterfall in a scene 'render it useless'? Does the slightest distortion in a scene 'render it useless'? Does the tiniest reduction in lens resolution near the edges in a scene 'render it useless'?

Well, when you're using the pixel shift feature you're aiming for the most precise result with the highest possible resolution. You use it because you want the ultimate quality.So yes, in this case a shot would be worthless when you have some grass in the foreground which is moved a bit by the wind.

@quintanaYes, I have used it on many landscape shots, given the conditions were allowing for it. As somebody else pointed out, you can fix eventual glitches with the one of the four single exposure. I did a lot of nocturnal shots with it, simply because noise in a @ ISO 800 shot with 3 stops underexposure is almost less than @ 100 in a normal daylight exposure. here's an example of two recent nights shot I did: http://www.autobahn66.com/california-nocturnal/gasdieselhttp://www.autobahn66.com/california-nocturnal/waiting-freight-trainI always take a regular exposure first as my "safety shot", in the freight train shot there was car driving in the background, leaving an artifact. it's an easy fix though and very well worth the sharpness, tonality and low noise that pixel shift produces.

By the way, I have been using a pixel shift camera for about 3 years (see gear list) so no need to tell me what I am aiming for @quintana. With *your* aims that *you* stated, then a little extra time in post to mask any motion artefacts with one of the four non-pixel-shift exposures, is well worth the small trouble. Results are excellent.

Motion is a problem for pixel shift, so the process should be as fast as possible. Sony decided to make inferior pixel shift which is weird. Sony has these strange solutions like that uncompressed RAW, but no lossless RAW which is waste of space and bandwidth. Latest problem is PDAF stripes which show as dotted lines when shooting certain types of highlights.

a) PixelShift is for static subjects. Even slight movement will create colorful artefacts. This is a RGGB filtering, like 3 pass scanning back cameras.b) Uncompressed raw is rarely needed, and when needed you have the option.c) The stripes occur under very rare circumstances for the A7III, with flare that would destroy most pictures anyway, and just for a small area. Doing a fix is almost as quick and easy as removing a few dust spots.

This tread isn't even about Sony cameras. It is about some software. What are you trying to tell us?

@zkz5If for some reason losslessly/ Huffman compressed raw file is corrupted, recovery is close to impossible. With uncompressed formats, on the other hand, the damage is local.

Oddly enough, if the proper backup procedure is in place, that is the only question is the disk size/model and how/when to round-robin the disks, it doesn't matter what is the size of the raw.

But when (and that's mostly how it is, especially in the field - that's why we receive massive recovery requests, and often the only thing we can help with is extraction of embedded JPEGs) the procedure is consumer-level or simply absent, uncompressed files are the safer option.

IMHO yes. Apart from the mantra "do not discard the originals", if you have discovered some motion/ shake artifacts, you may want to revert to a single ARW; and it is possible that after some time a solution to handle motion / shake will emerge, and it will work from the original ARWs.

>and it is possible that after some time a solution to handle motion / shake will emerge

RawTherapee already handles motion and changing light (not shake) in pixelshift files quite well and very flexible since a while for Pentax pixel shift files. Current development version and soon upcoming RawTherapee 5.4 release also support Sony ARQ pixel shift files the same way Pentax pixel shift PEF and DNG files are already supported (with optional motion correction)

I'm all for better examples in a new blog, together with raw files for those examples

Right now I have no problem stacking conversions, one from the combined pixel-shifted file, the others from individual frames, demosaicked; and using masks to replace the areas of the composite pixel-shifted file that are affected with motion using individual frames. The bonus is that I can select which individual frame will be the donor.

> exporting the motion mask ... you can do that, but you don't have to

I never said it is obligatory. I read this phrase as further manual processing may be needed.

nothing (no multi-shot system) handles "motion correction"anything that reverts to a single-shot, to cover motion artifactsreverts to single-shot lower-resolution or single-shot less-color-fidelitywhich defeats the whole point of using multi-shot methods

ideally, every pixel-sized pov should "scan all (rgb) colors" within a tiny time framethe shorter the time frame (if not simultaneous), the better

right now, the multi-shot approach with a mechanically shifted sensor is a clumsy approach (whether on a stable tripod or handheld)

No, in our experience motion correction is better handled from individual raw files, with manual intervention. We are not quite happy with automated solutions that we saw / tried. First, the base frame needs to be selected, which is problematic in automated workflow. Next, it may need manually adjusted masks.

The recently presented Sony global shutter sensor could make that possible, eventually. Multi-shot, with shots so quickly after each other that the motion becomes irrelevant (or at least not worse than with a conventional single shot).

Leaves moves very fast in the wind. So, they’re not a great subject for multi-shot. However, there are many subjects which the Pentax software does a good job on. For example, I shoot food, often in natural light. Changing light intensity produces artefacts (especially on shiny surfaces, like plates) and Silkypix can handle that. It can also handle things like a moving herb leaf, or a sauce.

But I can assure you, that it’s quite hard not to miss artefacting when fixing it manually. I’ve done it thousands of times, so I have quite a lot of experience with it.

why not?software itself takes up little spaceit's only the image files that take up space during processing

whilst i am unlikely to ever get an all out desktop workstation (which could run android)i prefer pp raw on my handheld mobile tabletDNGs are relatively easy to pp in LR Mobileexcept when images are excessively noisy (NR is the slowest process unfortunately)

To be honest, only streaming would yield decent performance on most devices (reading let's say X lines at a time from all frames and combining them to output stream), providing the algorithm is simple (it should be?)

That's not how sensors work. They are quite slow to fully scan (around 1/20s, except for a9 which is IIRC 1/160s) but can clear just before reading thus creating 1/32000s exposure. No point in random, thank you, I much prefer knowing what I'm getting.

You can already do that - try this - fire off a 10 frame burst, scale them up x2, align them and do a median merge. Voila - super resolution. If you were lucky and moved the camera in a good way. Or fire off more shots and increase your chances.

Motion detection is already good enough for that (it corrects for under half a pixel shifts in IBIS), but that's still opportunistic approach that's not usable with long exposures (unless much processing and splitting it to many short ones processed together) or tripod. Similar approach (splitting and merging exposure) is already implemented in various smartphones (mostly for better DR but it's essentially the same) with Pixels being, it seems, the best of the bunch. Much easier and more certain to just use IBIS, IMHO.

It's weird, since IBIS is fast enough to correct during the single exposure there is no reason for this to be slower than 4 shot burst. They could also implement half-pixel shift (oly/pana) b if it has to be processed on computer.

The quality (including dynamic range), compared to 1 shot, is improved if motion and shake are under control. The raw data for red and blue components of a pixel is preserved, for the green component both green samples for a pixel are averaged. Thus no interpolation of missing values (demosaicking) is needed, which, in turn, increases the quality and resolution (moire, for example, is dramatically decreased).

@Iliah BorgPentax Pixel Shift DO it on camera. They provide you either a jpeg or a RAW, right away. But the RAW one really contains the four exposures that can be processed individualy, if you want, on a computer.

@SungiBrI was under impression we are discussing raw, as SonyPixelShift2DNG is for raw. I'm not sure that going for a trouble to shoot pixel-shifted images all one wants is out-of-camera JPEGs, sort of defeats the purpose. As to Pentax pixel shift raw, I'm glad we agree, it is not combined in the camera and is only a container.

@Iliah BorgYeah, you're right. The ability to process RAW of those PS images is the whole point of this new software. But considering all the benefits of the pixel shift, even jpgs show better color, resolution and sharpness. The possibility of getting it right out of the camera is a bonus that you have the option, if you desire. A thing you can't have by now, with Sony's implementation.

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